Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Keara ~ The hen looks black to me, but pull back her fluff feathers to see what her undercoat by the skin looks like. Is it black or blue? To me, personally, the chick looks like a black. I've had several born with that silver-looking tinge. Was the chick born of black and blue parents?? Let's see a pic of the chick in better light in a day or two, ok?

 

[DMRippy]

BUMP! for a shameless topic changer

-Keara

I am like you maybe she is blue....

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Barb, beware! You are being taken down a politically slippery slope... To thine own self, be true...

To mine-own self, I AM being true. NOBODY is leading me down this path. It is my own brain and my own experience bringing me to this party - right or wrong. As you may have noticed, I've been busy reading the genetics books and asking LOADS of questions of experts from any camp that cares to comment. There are many roads to Rome. A different road isn't necessarily wrong. Just different. I don't claim to be an expert. I don't claim to be experienced. I pledge allegiance to no Marans breeding camp. In fact, I like to think I have friends in several camps. Having extensive experience in the show world of other species, I KNOW this sort of dissonance within the ranks does NOT do the breed any favours - now or down the road.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

 

[DMRippy]

SERIOUSLY, I LOVE it when we get some open discussions going like this. As long as no one gets their feelings hurt AND every one feels freee to express themselves....

I listen to everyone .... Hearing everyone's opinions adds more to your thought process than working alone in a vacumn.

I do believe we all work hard with the marans. The standard was suppose to unite us so that we would all be working towards the same goal / standard. I think we all focus most on what has been the biggest issue in our flocks. I betcha Pink looks at a comb WAY before she looks at a birds type or color. I betcha that wasn't always her first focus.

With me... I look for the dang white feather because that is the issue that I have been battling for two years...

Like I said, I do like discussions. I have always like this thread because there are so many of us working so hard to make it right.
Passion.... passions are stirred because we do have lots of time, money, sweat, and tears involved.
Sitting in a chair, LOL,

Man, somebody tell my back that is what I did today....

Speaking of chores today, has anyone bought bales of hay lately?
I think they are shrinking... but the price isn't!

Pink first looks to see if they are BLUE

then she looks at their combs....

 

[math ace]

what do you think... is the Hen dark blue or do you think the roosters "stuff" was long lived? By the way second chick is blue too! I have already sold these chicks as Black Copper wonder if the buyer will still want them!

-Shameless in Vermont

That would be 8 weeks of holding the sperm.... That is a long time.
I say breed her again to a black copper and see what hatches.
If you get blues again then you will know it is the hen....

OBTW... I am sure your buyer will love the blues. They seem way more popular than the blacks to most folks.

 

[pinkchick]

BUMP! for a shameless topic changer

-Keara

Congrats! What does this chick look like now that it is dried off a bit more?

If you are unsure of the hens black or blue then breed her to a genetically black bird like a Barred Rock....if you get blue chick then you have a blue hen that is very dark. If you don't have another black roo to test her to test her back to your Black Copper male and collect her eggs and mark them and hatch them separately.

Does your hen look as though she may have outer lacing around the feathers? It is easiest to see the lacing on the breast and in the sun light. Bill as you know is very dark blue, looks pitch black if you aren't standing right next to him, but when you get right up on him or hold him he still looks black but you can just tell that he isn't true black. He has lacing and the shaft of the feather is slightly darker like the lacing.
I have a photo if one is needed.

 

[Debbi]

SERIOUSLY, I LOVE it when we get some open discussions going like this. As long as no one gets their feelings hurt AND every one feels freee to express themselves....

I listen to everyone .... Hearing everyone's opinions adds more to your thought process than working alone in a vacumn.

I do believe we all work hard with the marans. The standard was suppose to unite us so that we would all be working towards the same goal / standard. I think we all focus most on what has been the biggest issue in our flocks. I betcha Pink looks at a comb WAY before she looks at a birds type or color. I betcha that wasn't always her first focus.

With me... I look for the dang white feather because that is the issue that I have been battling for two years...

Like I said, I do like discussions. I have always like this thread because there are so many of us working so hard to make it right.
Passion.... passions are stirred because we do have lots of time, money, sweat, and tears involved.
Sitting in a chair, LOL,

Man, somebody tell my back that is what I did today....

Speaking of chores today, has anyone bought bales of hay lately?
I think they are shrinking... but the price isn't!

I hear ya sista!

 

[Keara]

I looked at the hen in the coop tonight and her undercoat looks black to me. If the sun comes out I will try to get pictures of her breast. That hen and the Blue copper rooster, who died in Nov, were the only mature animals I had of BBS copper breeding. All my other hens and one rooster are black coppers I hatched from other black coppers, so......???

I am very curious to see how the rest of the 22 eggs look when they hatch! I bet I only had 4 eggs from the red banded hen in there, so if it is her I couldn't have more than that many blues..... but if it was leftover from the blue rooster than it could be about 1/4.

I will take better pictures of the chicks when they dry, maybe they will dry black and then the mystery will be solved.

 

[pinkchick]

If it ain't blue.....what's a girl to do????

Yes the little dark one in the back is blue.

 

[gilavina]

If it ain't blue.....what's a girl to do????

Yes the little dark one in the back is blue.

AHHHH!!! You're killin me Kim! Such poofy butterballs! My babies are growing up so quick. I know...I can solve this problem...haha... just plug in the incubator again! haha I'm addicted to baby chickers!